Every car company wants to beat the Nürburgring Nordschleife record with a special model, Jaguar Land Rover is the latest to push for a record at the famous street race track of the world. The company successfully put a Jaguar XE SV Project on track to burn the Nordschleife in a record time of 7:21.23 seconds.

The Jaguar-SVO XE SV Project 8

Jaguar’s SVO-developed XE SV Project 8 is now the world’s fastest four-door car, following a production-intent prototype’s record lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The incredible time of 7:21.23 is nearly 11 seconds quicker than the previous fastest sedan around the legendary 12.9-mile German circuit and puts the 600PS Project 8 ahead of some of the world’s fastest two-door coupés and supercars.

Mark Stanton, SVO Director, said: “The SVO design and engineering team’s mission was to create the most track-focused road-legal Jaguar in history – not only the fastest, but also the most agile. As a result, only the roof and front door skins of Project 8’s body are carried-over unaltered from XE and 75 per cent of its mechanical hardware is new. This astonishing Nürburgring Nordschleife record validates the success of such extensive changes.”

The Jaguar-SVO XE SV Project 8 highlights

At the heat of the XE SV Project 8 is a supercharged V8 that pushes 600Ps. Its 5.0-liter supercharged V8 produces 600PS and 700Nm of torque, making it the most powerful engine ever fitted to a Jaguar road car. Maximum speed is 200 mph and 0-60mph takes just 3.3 seconds. While the car’s 8-speed transmission can manually paddle shift in just 0.2 seconds.

Carbon fiber racing seats are available for those who want the two-seat track-oriented Project 8. They’re fitted with four-point competition harnesses. A multi-point harness retention hoop replaces the rear seats. The road-biased version of Project 8 features four seats trimmed in Ebony leather with Oyster contrast stitching. The front pair are special lightweight magnesium-framed Performance seats.

Project 8’s body has been extensively redesigned to offer aerodynamic performance essential for a 200mph car. This includes an adjustable deep front splitter, rear diffuser and a large adjustable rear aero wing. The wing’s angle of attack can be fine tuned either to reduce drag or maximise downforce, producing up to 122kg of downforce once you reach 186 mph.

Stopping power is just as important for a 200mph car, the brakes on the Project 8 comprise vast 400mm carbon ceramic discs with huge 6 piston calipers up front, which weighs -18kg less.

The Project 8’s handling is rear-drive biased, like a two-door supercar. With the Intelligent Driveline Dynamics (Electronic Active Differential), part of the advanced computer-controlled drive set-up, the supercar offers ultimate performance, alongside the available uniquely tuned version of Adaptive Dynamics with new Track Mode.